Cousins wasn't their guy, right? How they feel about Cousins might not reflect how they feel about Garoppolo. You're certainly more aware of the rumor mill there than I am, but it wouldn't be surprising to me for a team to feel like Cousins is just a guy but Jimmy G could be more than that.
There is no WA thread, but this seems at least tangentially related to this thread. Armchair thoughts on Cousins based on some solid reporting and having a field box seat to a circus that will be entering its 19th year in May:
1. McCloughan did not draft Cousins, and that's often a ticket to divorce. But 2 years ago, McCloughan, Jay Gruden and Bruce Allen had an "intervention" with Snyder, persuading him to pass the torch from RGIII to Cousins, who has put up two very productive seasons. Had the intervention not succeeded, all of them except Snyder would probably be gone. To that limited extent, Cousins is McCloughan's guy. He definitely is Gruden's guy. Allen -- ?
2. McCloughan's reservations, if any, stem from being a "value" guy -- and fear of paying a good QB elite money. He's not stupid, so he knows that's what the market commands because of fear of being in the QB abyss. But he has sufficient self confidence to believe he probably can do better than this.
3. They screwed up last season by failing to offer Cousins anything approaching a viable long term contract. They demanded that he "show" them. He did, so Cousins now will like pocket close to $44 million in guaranteed money by being franchised in consecutive years.
4. They like Cousins but don't love him. At the very least Snyder does not love him -- Cousins is a breathing everyday reminder of the catastrophe of RGIII. Owners, NFL owners especially, hate being wrong, and emotional considerations like this often drive decision making.
5. Because Cousins has been treated shabbily by the team, and because the organization is unstable, I do not see him signing here long term. He would require a premium to sign a long term deal, and I'm doubtful they will offer FMV (see above) much less a premium.
6. They will tag him because Cousins represents an asset even at the franchise price. From there there are two likely paths -- tag and trade, tag and move on after 2017 while trying to find a successor in the meantime. Don't know which one they will take; that will likely depend on the trade market.
7. What you suggest -- move on from Cousins, trade for JG -- is of course theoretically possible. The goal would be to use the draft compensation from the Cousins deal to acquire JG, who would be signed to a sub-Cousins contract. But it would be quite the chess challenge, requiring bold, swift moves on several fronts, and there are no Ben Cheringtons here.
8. Even if it could be pulled off, it would be risky. Everyone knows the fortunes of former Patriot QBs. Everyone knows he has zero experience in Gruden's offense, which is quite different from the Patriots' system. And I'll reiterate a point made before -- I would not sign a long term deal here if I were JG, for the same reasons Cousins won't barring a ridiculous overpay. A fail by JG here -- quite possible if given only a year -- would land everyone on the street. The owner has an unrealistic sense of what it takes to succeed, has little patience and is still immature.